Perrysburg knocks off rival Maumee, 50-7, looks toward playoffs

Maumee quarterback Brian Utter is dropped in the end zone for a safety as the Perrysburg defense celebrates. The Yellow Jackets are 8-2 overall and finished 7-0 in the NLL.

THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH
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Maumee quarterback Brian Utter is dropped in the end zone for a safety as the Perrysburg defense celebrates. The Yellow Jackets are 8-2 overall and finished 7-0 in the NLL.

Perrysburg blasted Maumee 50-7 Friday night to finish a perfect Northern Lakes League season and win an outright championship Friday night.

The student section rushed the field after the last snap as players dragged around the Ding-Dong Trophy given to the winner of the rivalry.

“This is as good as it gets,” Perrysburg coach Matt Kregel said. “It is the perfect way to end the first half of our season.”

Now the Yellow Jackets (8-2, 7-0 NLL) wait to find out who and where they will face in the playoffs next week.

PHOTO GALLERY: Click here to see more photos from the game

It is the first time under Kregel that the Yellow Jackets have won an outright title. Perrysburg will be looking for its first-ever playoff win in its third chance.

It is also the first time Perrysburg reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Kregel made sure to let his team know film session begins at 7 a.m. today.

“We’ll have a good idea of who we’re playing in the morning,” Kregel said. “I’m not going to sit on my phone all night and try to crunch numbers because you never know. We’ll know in the morning.”

Perrysburg’s defense was credited for the game’s first score. Maumee quarterback Brian Utter was dragged down in the end zone by junior Gus Dimmerling for a safety and a 2-0 lead.

Maumee had been backed up close to it end zone when Perrysburg wide receiver Matt Kaczinski fumbled after a 14-yard reception.

On Perrysburg’s first drive, Dimmerling ran 47 yards to set up a Mark Delas three-yard TD run.

“This is awesome, we didn’t want to share it,” Delas said. “This started the day school got out in the summer. We knew we had a great team coming back, and we were going to work hard and be the league champs.”

Perrysburg QB Gus Dimmerling, left, tries to run past Maumee’s Dakota Yeary. Dimmerling ran for 216 yards and threw for 260.

Dimmerling connected with Scott Freeman for two TDs, the first from 22 yards out. The second once came when Dimmerling hit Freeman in stride on a streak from the slot on a play covering 72 yards.

Dimmerling finished with 216 yards on 16 carries and two TDs. He threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns, completing 14 of 20 passes and throwing two interceptions.

Seth Durham had two interceptions for Perrysburg, while Matt Mesker had an interception and rushed for a one-yard score.

Maumee got on the scoreboard with a 74-yard TD pass from Jordan Spellis to Brian Autry in the second quarter to make it 29-7. Autry broke a tackle after catching a short pass, then took it the rest of the way.

The Panthers (2-8, 1-6) struggled to find its rushing attack with 22 carries for only 26 yards.

Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com, 419-356-8786, or on Twitter at @mthompson25.